How sleep hit any of them was a complete miracle, but it did. At least for a time. Nick stirred at some point, not feeling anywhere near rested, but decided to get up and find out where everyone ended up…especially making sure Ben’s dreams hadn’t come true. As he sat up from the couch, his feet landed on someone. Jack. One down.

Ben was on the other side of the room, sprawled out on top of a sleeping bag with only one bare foot hiding beneath the nylon bedding. Florida boys sleep hot…he was no exception. Now, to find where the ladies had ended up. Kitty was in the guest room alone, looking downright angelic with a wisp of her blonde hair dangling across her eyes and the slightest of smiles illuminating her face. He brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead, quickly leaving before she roused. The rest had to have been in his room.

Rosalie and Liz were curled together in his bed, looking teeny and precious and peaceful. But Lani was nowhere to be found, although she had been there at one time. Her pillow still had the imprint of her head and the sheets were rumpled to the back of the girls.

Nick sat on the bed and ran his fingers through Rosalie’s hair, wondering why that seemed more appealing at the moment than going back to sleep. He was dead…moving had pulled muscles he had forgotten he had, and when his eyes landed on the clock, he had to stifle a groan. He’d been asleep an hour at most. Too many snacks and too many bad movies made for a perfect ending to a very long day…one he’d be paying for all week, but it had been worth it.

The curly head turned under his hand and startled him out of his daydream. “Nicky?”

“Shh…dondé es Mamí?”

“Mmm…” He pushed her head closer to his hand, closing her eyes at his touch. “Um…yo no sé.”

“Okay…” Nick stalled a moment trying to kick his Spanish in gear, but it wasn’t happening. “Go back to sleep, baby.”

She nodded against his hand and rolled back over, not giving another care to the night. Or to her missing mother.

He kissed both girls and stood, stretching the kinks out of his body from an hour’s rest on a couch meant for cuddling, not sleeping. And then, he felt a small draft coming from the patio door in the back of his room. Someone else wasn’t sleeping either.

Finding a shirt to throw on, he went outside and found his lady. She had pulled one of his chairs to the edge of the deck and was watching the waves roll in, breaking up the blackest of nights with their small white caps. She was hugging her knees close to her and he couldn’t tell if she was just cold or deep in thought. She hadn’t even budged when he slid the door closed behind him.

“Lani…baby…”

“Hey…I can’t sleep.” She heaved a sigh and rested her head on her knees. “You know me and traveling. I get homesick.”

“You’re homesick here?”

“Well, for my own bed I guess…” She shrugged and pulled her knees in tighter, making Nick step back in and grab a small blanket to toss over her shoulders.

“It’s chilly out here tonight.”

“For September, yeah…thanks.” She finally looked up to him, but didn’t uncurl, didn’t move, didn’t exactly welcome him into her space.

“You wanna be alone? I just wasn’t sleeping all that good either.”

“No, stay.” As he pulled up a chair next to her, but not too close, she sat up more straight, breathing deeply of the sea air. “The water’s beautiful tonight.”

“It’s beautiful every night.”

“Yeah, I suppose it is. I can’t believe how rarely I saw this at night and I’ve lived just minutes from the coast most of my life.”

“You could see it every night if you wanted to.”

She turned to him quickly, eyes wide with surprise at what she knew he was getting at. “Nick…what are you…”

“Move in with me. It’s not the biggest place, but there’s room for you and Ro. You can see the water anytime, she can go swimming, it’s a safer neighborhood…and…”

“…no, Nick. I have my house. And…it’s mine. I did that by myself.”

Nick nodded trying not to take that as an indication that her possessions were more important to her than he was. He knew better, but such a quick ‘no’ was making that a hard pill to swallow. His eyes landed on a heron, lazily walking along the shoreline and stopping to gaze back at the humans who were watching.

The three stared one another down, each in their own thoughts until Nick couldn’t take the silence, mood, or heron any longer. “Go on now…nothing to see here!”

As if he understood, the bird nodded and lazed his stroll back along the shore, leaving barely visible footprints in the wet sand as the water receded beneath its step.

Solana curled back up into her human ball and sighed, resting her head on her knees sending off more mixed signals than Nick knew what to do with. Insomnia was not the issue here. Finally she took a breath and Nick could feel the door beginning to open.

“Neron showed up when you were gone.”

“Neron…”

“Maybe I never told you his name.” She turned her head on her knees and smiled slightly, remembering the love she felt with this blonde beauty before her. A love that scared her to death. “Rosalie’s dad.”

Nick didn’t even try to hide his emotions, mostly because they came careening at him so quickly he wasn’t able to. Shock, panic, fear, anger, disgust, concern…they were all there twisting his tired mind into a pretzel. Finally, he was able to form thought to words and whispered out a question. “What did he want?”

“To tell me to stay away from you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Remember we had cameras from E! or ET or something following us around a bit for your tour?”

“Ah, yeah…”

“Well, I was in a short clip, I guess…just in the background, and he saw me. I guess his new hootch is addicted to tabloid shit.”

Nick nodded and scooted his chair closer, feeling that she was more open to his presence…and hell, he needed her warmth. The chill in the night had suddenly stiffened. “You said you didn’t want to hide…maybe we should have.”

“No. I’m not hiding, Nick. I mean, I don’t want to be on display either, but I stand by that decision.”

“Then why won’t you visit me when I’m gone?”

“Let’s tackle one thing at a time here, huh? I was planning on it until he showed up.”

Some understanding finally crept into Nick’s thick head…or into Solana’s words…either way, it was becoming more clear. Unfortunately, it made Nick even more frustrated. “So what’d he have to say? Did he see Ro?”

“The fucker didn’t even ask about his child. He just told me he knows I’m with you and wants me to stay away. ‘Guys like that are nothing but pain’.”

“He walks away from his child and he is talking about pain?”

“Yeah, I know. I never said he was bright.”

Nick was silent for a moment, soaking it all in. Their path had been free and clear up until this point, Lani assuring him that Rosalie’s dad wasn’t in and never would be in the picture. And here he stood. Dead in the center of things. “What are you going to do?”

“Nothing. Be cautious.” She finally uncurled from her ball and wrapped an arm around Nick, leaning into him. “I thought he was gone.”

“Yeah, so did I. He didn’t even ask about Ro?” Nick was beyond incensed with that one.

“Nope. He just showed up that one day, but ended it by telling me he had his eye on me and I’d better be careful.”

“You think he’ll try to take her?”

“He’d better not, Nick…she’s my life.”

Even though it was barely 5 am, they went inside to make coffee and head back out. Silence was their conversation and it was full and meaningful irregardless of the busy thoughts that clouded each of their minds. Small touches as they’d pass each other in the kitchen, faint smiles sharing understanding of feelings too complicated for words.

As they settled back on the patio and silently sipped their coffee and enjoyed muffins bought in preparation for the hungry hoards in the later hours of the morning, Nick worked up the courage to not only ask, but hear the answer to the question that had been tormenting him since Solana’s earlier announcement.

“What are you thinking? The silence is making me nervous now.” Solana bit into her muffin and closed her eyes as blueberries spilled their sweet juice into her mouth. “God, that’s good.”

“I want to ask you something, but I’m not sure I’m ready for an answer.”

“Just ask it, Nick.”

“You’ve never told me about Neron…hell, I didn’t even know his name. What was he like? What made you fall in love with him?”

Solana licked an unmelted pool of butter from the inside of her muffin and sat back, wondering if she could even answer that question. What had made her fall in love with Neron? It seemed like a lifetime ago. Remembering her daughter curled up in Nick’s arms as they disappeared down the hall the night before, she realized it had been a lifetime ago. Finally she took a breath and began.

“I was just finishing my bachelor’s…tired, beat, yet strong. I’d done it. Come out of poverty, earned scholarships and grants and made my way through school, with honors no less. I’d beat the odds.”

Nick reached across the table and rubbed her arm. “I love you.”

She smiled at his sudden declaration and took his hand in hers. “I love you, too, Nick. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner about him.”

“You told me…we’ll work around him if we need to.” Nick bit into his muffin wishing it was Neron’s head instead. Fucker.

“Yeah, so anyway, I was celebrating with some friends at a campus bar. Nothing special, just a few drinks, some dancing…you know the scene.”

“Too well.” Nick chuckled and waited for her to continue.

“Anyway, he comes in and I don’t know whether it was because I was so tired, or so sick of putting men on the back burner while I studied or what, but it was like I was an animal in heat.”

Nick’s eyebrows raised at the thought. Lani in heat. Now that was something he was willing to experience. “You goin’ into heat anytime soon?”

Tossing a hunk of muffin at his nose, she had to giggle, grateful for the break in discussion. “You brat…I’m always in heat for you.”

“True…so, you pounced him.”

“No, I didn’t pounce him, but we connected right away. He has these amazing eyes…great, strong arms, and this air of…” She took another bite, looking for the right word. “…confident possession I guess…and for whatever reason, it’s what I needed at the time.”

“I can’t imagine you ever wanting or needing to be possessed by a man, Lani.”

“I was a different person then, Nick. I’d known only that kind of love from a man…I thought it was normal.”

“What changed your mind?”

“You. Seeing you with the Casey’s. With Rosalie. You not only let those kids be who they were created to be, but you helped them figure it out. And then, the best part…”

“Yeah?” To say he was floored was an understatement. Touched. Amazed. Wanting to jump her and possess her. And then go kill Neron.

“…you loved them even if they screwed it up. I’d learned that with Ro on my own, but…you. You just did it so naturally. I figured if you could be that amazing with the kids, you’d be a great partner for me too.”

“Take off the rose colored glasses, Lani. I’m completely clueless with these kids…and with you half the time.”

“No, you’re not. Maybe it’s because you’re a big brother. Maybe…” She took hold of his hand again and looked deep into his eyes, her breath momentarily stolen from her as the breeze blew his long hair around his head like a crown. “…maybe it’s because you’re just a good man.”

“I don’t feel like it most of the time.”

“Nick, you cannot let your past mistakes continue to define you. They help you learn, but they don’t define you…if they did, I’d still be a useless slutty single mom who cares only for herself. And I’m sorry, but…”

“No, that’s not you.”

“Right. But it used to be. Don’t do that to yourself, Nick.”

Nick sighed, knowing she was right, still unable to completely take it to heart however. “Okay, so Neron. Studly dude in the bar.”

“Whatever…we danced that night, and it went from there. Really not much else to it.”

“Until you got pregnant.”

“Right. Until I showed him the stick.” She pulled her hand from his, putting them in her lap to fidget with her shirt hem. “I knew he wouldn’t be excited, but I thought maybe if I showed him how happy I was, then it might rub off…”

“You were wrong.”

“Apparently. I decided to tell him when he got home from work…he worked nights and so I only had to wait an hour or so. Instead, I was busy puking my guts up in the bathroom when he came in.”

“A pleasant welcome home.”

“I thought so. Anyway, he wouldn’t even come in to…hold my hair, or give me a washcloth. By then, I didn’t expect it either. I knew he was trash, but I didn’t think I deserved much better. Anyway, I cleaned myself up, took out the stick, showed him and asked him to go get me some Saltines or something.”

“Did he even care?”

“He kinda smiled at it, so I thought he was just shocked…you know? Anyway, he left and uh…”

“No…”

“Yeah, the first time I saw him was when he showed up at the center in July. He never came back.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I think He’d have hung around.” She smiled weakly at her love, and quickly looked back down picking up muffin crumbs with her finger. “I was an idiot.”

“Hold up…how does him abandoning his child and its mother make you an idiot?”

“I loved him even when I knew he was awful. I’m smarter than that. Here I was in school learning how to counsel troubled kids and their parents, yet my life was in a shambles.”

“But you picked up the mess and made the best of it. You have an amazing daughter, an amazing job…a good life now.”

“Yes, I do. And I don’t want that fuckhead coming in here and screwing it up.”

“So, could he take Rosalie?”

“I have no idea…I need to find out. I didn’t name him on the birth certificate. According to the law, she has no father.”

“But if he did DNA or something…”

“Right. But honestly, I don’t think he would…and if so, it’d only be to get to me. To hurt me, not her. I don’t think he’s capable of caring enough about her to hurt her.”

“Why the hell would he want to hurt you? Didn’t he do enough damage already?”

“It’s all about control, Nick. He saw that I was with someone more powerful than him. With more money and more capable of providing for me…so here he is. Either that or he’s hoping for some of the loot. Cuz, you know…we’re swimming in it.”

“Oh yeah, I’m on Forbes…pth.”

“Stop. Anyway, he’s not come back, he doesn’t know where I live. I think I’m okay.”

“Except that he’s still haunting you and its now affecting us.”

She sighed and finished her coffee, looking out to the gulf, hoping to find another heron, maybe this one bringing the answers to life in its beak. Seeing only a gull, she sighed and looked to Nick, the hope and questions in their eyes matching the other.

“Yeah, except that.”